Modern motor vehicles are increasingly equipped with electrical systems/devices and functions which are intended to be used for the safety and the comfort of the passengers and/or for their entertainment. The scope of the offered functions, and the operation and quality thereof, are often crucial to a customer's purchasing decision. Therefore, it is advantageous if said functions can be presented to a potential buyer in the salesroom of a car dealership and/or at a sales fair, so that said potential buyer can directly experience said functions.
However, in motor vehicles known to date, only a few electrical systems can be operated without a vehicle key, with the result that the vehicle keys which are required therefor are present at the car dealerships in order to be able to present functions of vehicles inside the salesrooms as necessary. “Vehicle key” is to be understood here as any suitable key which is suitable for enabling access to the vehicle and for starting up same. This also comprises electronic access controls. However, said keys are usually stored in a locked cupboard in order to avoid loss and misuse. Thus, for example, it is intended to be prevented that engines of vehicles which are located in a salesroom are started at unobserved moments. Therefore, it is not possible for customers who are viewing a vehicle there and, in this case, usually also climb into the vehicle to experience and test the various electrical systems/devices in operation. For this purpose, a vendor having possession of the correct vehicle key required in order to activate the functions must first be contacted. Usually, the further viewing of the vehicle then takes place in the presence of the vendor since they will not leave the customer alone with the vehicle key for the aforesaid reasons. Consequently, during this time, other customers cannot test any vehicles as long as no other vendors are available.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a method for operating a motor vehicle, which method enables a person, in particular a customer in a salesroom, to directly experience and test electrical systems/devices of the vehicle without a vehicle key. It is also an object of the invention to provide such a motor vehicle.